The main purpose of COMESE is to understand and enhance the relationships between science, policy, and society. COMESE integrates science and society studies in the following areas: evidence and decision-making processes in the interaction between science, society, and policy; science communication and the scientific community; representations of international migration and representations of migrants in textbooks; science education and participation in the scientific debate; science outreach and participatory models. The use of participatory methodologies to involve various social actors in research activities is cross-cutting across the various thematic areas.

Operational objectives include: -understanding the relationships between knowledge, trust, and support for science; -expanding the possibilities for informed and responsible participation in the scientific and social debate; -promoting evidence-based decision-making processes and identifying appropriate pathways for this purpose; -bringing young people and citizens closer to science and scientific and social issues (e.g., immigration) through methodologies that allow for the construction of a scientific path highlighting the salient aspects of the topic, helping to overcome a simplified image and leading to a greater understanding of the phenomena; -refining critical analysis skills for texts and images in schools and society, in an era of information overabundance that requires young people to acquire critical information management tools; -analyzing the epistemological effects of bibliometrics.